On September 10, Coinbase announced the rebranding of the Base App back to Coinbase Wallet. Product lead Ryan Kass explained in an interview with The Block that the application had moved beyond the Base Layer 2 ecosystem.
— Coinbase Wallet (@coinbasewallet) September 10, 2026
“The name Coinbase Wallet more accurately reflects the product's role as a non-custodial entry point to Coinbase’s 'exchange for everything',” he stated.
From Social Features to Trading
The Base App was initially designed to combine trading, user communication, payments, and mini-apps. A notable feature of the project was the introduction of creator tokens and individual publication tokens, allowing users to purchase them while content creators received a portion of the revenue.
However, in March of this year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong admitted in a podcast with David Senra that the social experiment did not meet expectations. He noted that the model lacked a sustainable economy to maintain long-term interest in purchasing such tokens, prompting the team to shift focus towards trading.
In July, there was a change in product leadership, with Base creator Jesse Pollak handing over control of the app to Jordan Fish, known as Cobie, while Pollak concentrated on blockchain development.
“I was definitely wrong. I don't know if the issue was purely timing or the idea itself. […] I long believed that only social products could bring a billion users into the crypto industry. Now I am convinced that this is not the case,” Pollak commented at that time.
Competing with Robinhood
With the shift to a trading model, Coinbase expanded its list of supported networks, including the Robinhood Chain, the blockchain of the competing platform Robinhood.
In a conversation with Decrypt, Kass explained that competition between companies should not limit asset choices in the wallet. He believes that providing access to various ecosystems will attract users, who can then decide where to trade.
Kass acknowledged the current popularity of Robinhood Chain, highlighting the speed and low fees of Base as advantages. He believes that trader interest in networks tends to be cyclical.
“We think this is cyclical, and when interest returns to Base Chain, Coinbase Wallet will be ready,” said the Coinbase representative.
The wallet will also serve as a testing ground for new assets and products. Kass emphasized that many tools are first introduced in Coinbase Wallet before being rolled out to the main retail app.
While social features are not excluded from future plans, the team intends to develop them based on user feedback rather than making them the foundation of the product.
It is worth noting that within the first week of the public mainnet launch, Robinhood Chain quickly rose to the top in terms of DEX volume. For more insights into the hype and the network's structure, refer to our special report.